Then, a special mission. B is helping a young student interpreter to improve her skills so she can pass the difficult interpreting test. They get together about once a month and today was the day. My role was to play the person being interpreted.
So B asked me to think up a few things to talk about.
My topics: 1) the history of the Asian martial arts in the United States, particularly the contributions of Bruce Lee, and 2) how digital technology democratized the film and video industry.
We went to the interpreting school and met the young woman, then walked upstairs to the simulated interpreting room. There were about eight booths there and a central room where B and I could sit. B's job: Listen to my talks AND simultaneously listen to the student interpret my talks, then make suggestions and corrections.
BUT! When we got there, an additional student was joining us. After some prep, the students went into separate booths, B put her headphones on, and I sat down, grabbed the mic, and started babbling. I couldn't hear what the students were saying----it was in German, and listening to them jabber while I was trying to talk would only confuse me. But I wondered: why are BOTH of them interpreting at the same time? How can B pay attention to what I'm saying, AND what two other people are interpreting?
Answer: SHE CAN. I thought "WTF?" No wonder she thinks and speaks so quickly!
I gave my martial arts talk, which I think the women found boring. Then I read an article out of a newspaper, then I gave my digital democratization talk, which the students seemed to find a bit more interesting. B offered her suggestions, tips, and corrections, then we were done.
As we were leaving, the main student B has been working with very kindly gave each of us a little Christmas present. I thought this was very nice of her. She's trying to get into a very tough profession---while it's possible to speak many languages well, SIMULTANEOUSLY INTERPRETING those languages is fucking difficult, especially on the fly with no notes. Anyone who can do it earns their money.
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Then to meet our friend Margit. We took a tram to the 1st District where we encountered what? Christmas markets.
Yet another Christmas Market on the grounds of the Rathaus (City Hall)
So we strolled around, had some hot spiced wine, ate a bit of junk food. I saw even more goddamned man-bags on display, at the same price I paid in Strasbourg for my new bag, but I didn't want to look at them lest I discover a better bag. "Be happy with what you have, Impoverished Retiree," I kept telling myself...
I was hoping we could find a restaurant and have a nice dinner and some conversation, but Margit wasn't really feeling too well, so after strolling around for an hour or so, we parted company.
Came home, defrosted the fridge, made some soup, and am now into my first glass of white wine.
A local Riesling.
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